Friday, February 15, 2008

Lack of Sleep

So my son still gets up in the middle of the night. I thought I was going to have it easy when he slept 10 and 11 hours a couple nights in a row. This was extreme, but he was sleeping between 6-8 hours a night for a little while.

For the last month though, he's averaged only 4 hours between feedings. The doctor says he doesn't need to eat in the middle of the night, but it's easy for him to tell me to ignore Caedmon. I haven't figured out how to do this yet.

Last night he ate at 9:30p.m., woke up at 1a.m., then again at 3:15a.m. and again at 7a.m. AGGHH!! I think I got about 5 hours of sleep.:( Corey made me take a nap today - Caedmon and I took a nap together on our bed. Corey said he checked on us a couple times, but I was so out I had no idea.

He's finally taking better naps again during the day; we just have to work on nights!

Any ideas or advice on my son's waking in the middle of the night, or is this just the name of the game till he starts eating solids?

6 comments:

RICE!!!!!!!!!! That is what people were telling me with Morgan. I never had to do it but I seriously think he is old enough to have some rice. But Morgan went through the same phase and the Dr. told me to ignore her too...how do you do that?? It does get better and then it goes back to the way it was. Morgan slept awesome on Wednesday night but last night was up at 3:30. I however refuse to feed her...maybe that's what you need to do. Does he have a mobile or a little music thing on the side of his crib? I will pull Morgan's cow and that sings and sometimes puts her back to sleep. Sorry I can't give anymore suggests...I need to get going!

It is very interesting to me that a very young child can only communicate needs in one way -- crying. That diversifies over time, but I remember Parker having different types of cries for different types of needs. The main one -- "I'm hungry."

I don't think we should take any doctor's advice when they tell us to ignore our childrens' communication.

Parker began sleeping through the nite when he moved from breast feeding to formula. We were afraid of the transition mainly because of how we are trained to believe that anything less than breast milk is less healthy.

Parker chose to leave the boob at about three months. He simply quit eating that way no matter what we tried with him. We started him on Similac (and tried a variety of others), and within a day or two he simply began sleeping through the night.

Good luck to you! I'm no expert -- my wife could tell you so much more. This is just my two cents from a husband/father point of view.

Are you still breastfeeding? I know Traeger was a great sleeper and then went through a phase where he started waking up again. I realized my milk supply was low and he wasn't getting enough to eat so I needed to change to adding in some formula. It worked great!

He probaby is just hungrey. I wouldn't ignore his cries just yet, does he actually eat when he gets up at night? or does he act like he just needs to be pacified?I remember my kids waking up in the middle of the night and hunting for that blasted binky, not fun, but they eventually learned to sleep without it. If he refuses the binky and he is not hungry, it will not hurt him to cry. I would definitly try a little supplement/ rice .......he is big boy I'm sure he could use the extra to help him get through the night. I would start slow, maybe just a couple tablespoons before bedtime. By all means I don't know everything but I have been through it with a few, hope my suggestions help

Lots of things could or couldn't work, so do what you need to do or try what you feel best trying. My only one who wasn't sleeping at least 6 hours at night by 8 weeks was Joey. I don't know if it was his size, the milk, or being the first. I did start him on solid foods at about 20 weeks but it didn't help. He DID need the extra food and calories but can't really say why he wouldn't sleep. It is true that if they're fed and dry and not hurting they will put themselves back to sleep. But, if you can't do it, don't. I remember your dad always walking the floor putting your brothers to sleep. He had a knack. Older siblings are also great at rocking babies back to sleep! But that doesn't help you, sorry!